On Saturday, again in hot weather, I managed to see two female Adders (Vipera berus) basking next to each other and then a couple of hours later I found one of these females beneath a flat stone. On Sunday, I went for a hike on the moorland surrounding my village and went for a swim in a nice pond where I used to go when I was a child. There was a very large population of Palmate newts (Lissotriton helveticus) together with many well-developed tadpoles of Common frog (Rana temporaria). In most areas close to me newts have left the water by now, so I was surprised to still see the males in breeding condition and demonstrating some courtship behavior. Despite this I could still see lots of newt larvae together with the 30 or so adults I could see in one area of the pond so perhaps in remote locations they spend most of the summer in the water.





